Tainted Souls can always come back
by Rigar
Summary: Kaneki struggles with the aftermath of the war, everything is changing so fast, especially after... [Rated M for later chapters]


Title: Tainted Souls can always come back

Chapter 1: Renewed Smile

Only the smile of the boy falling into Kaneki's arms was seen.

Hide's last moments alongside his best friend were reaching an end. Ken's heartbeat was going out of control, tears coming out of his human eye and blood coming out through the other, yet, not a single expression went through Kaneki. He knew there was nothing he could do now that his friend got fatally wounded in the outcome of the war raging outside. Despite being fatally wounded Hide never stopped gazing at Kaneki; he proceeded to lay him on the floor, whispering his last set of words.

"Thanks for the memories" Kaneki said in a lifeless manner.

"I've always known…" Said Hide in a weak voice, but lively as ever. His neck and mouth were covered in blood.

Kaneki immediately shook his lifeless expression, he was surprised at what Hide was saying.

"…Why...?" Kaneki resonated with this word, while his face slowly distorted more and more.

Hide's voice was getting lower and lower, he rolled his eyes as if fighting to get a few more seconds with his dear friend. Kaneki lowered his torso and they met head to head.

"I… wasn't sure… hehe… you're always so quiet" His eyes closing now.

"Hide!" He said trying to gasp for air.

"Kaneki, let's… go home" Were the last words Kaneki heard from his friend. The white haired boy carried Hide outside of the coffee shop and into the hell that was raging outside, making sure nothing happened to the body. He went to the center of the city, in a park that was completely intact amongst the debris and placed Hide's back against a tree.

"I'll be back Hide, wait for me" His eyes raged with anger for the loss of his friend.

"Aogiri… Doves…everything"

"You can all rot in hell" Said Ken as he walked towards the battlefield with a raging insanity in his mind that knew no bounds. His kakuja coming out of his body, pushing his limbs aside to take that inhuman form yet again. He slashed through the Aogiri lesser ghouls trying to end his anger by taking it out with the enemy. He wasn't himself anymore, anger got the best of him and it wasn't until Eto appeared that he stopped.

"Well, if it isn't fake eye! Tehee! Hee! Hee!" She mocked him.

Kaneki charged at her without thinking and she smashed him to the ground, almost tearing him apart in an instant.

"Next time watch your step!" She didn't kill him, instead she left him there turning the snow red with his blood gushing out.

His vision blurred at the sight of Eto leaving the battleground with the rest of Aogiri. His mind projected an image of Hide laying by the tree just before he lost consciousness.

"Hide…" The semblance of Yomo appeared before him and carried him over far away from that place.

Upon waking up he saw Touka sitting right beside him. He was laid down in bed and she was just watching him closely without making a sound or gesture.

"Touka…?" He slowly tried to get up, feeling that burst of pain in his head afterwards.

She quickly tended to him.

"Stop, you're going to get worse if you keep being reckless with your body"

"…" Kaneki leaned his back on the bed frame, a nicely carved wooden silhouette was displayed.

"Where are we…?" He asked looking around the room with a confused face.

"We're in Yoshimura's place, no one knows this was his house before he founded Anteiku"

"…" He looked around some more, it looked like a refined house, there were antiques and finely styled living areas.

"Anteiku is gone…and so is Mr. Yoshimura" She looked to the side in sadness.

"…" Kaneki didn't say a word all this time, he was in a state of trance, as if just waking up from a nightmare, trying to get your senses back.

"We should…"

"Where's Hide…" Kaneki interrupted.

Touka saddened even more, she had seen Kaneki holding his friend and placing his lifeless body out of danger.

"Yomo-san couldn't find the body after the commotion" Kaneki's expression suddenly changed.

"Hide…." He extended his hand as if to grab Touka's neck and break it apart, there was a part of him that was no longer human.

"K-Kaneki!?" She flinched for a second and in a flash Kaneki was jammed to the bed.

Yomo came out of nowhere and separated them. "Bear with your inner rage, or it will consume you"

"…" Only tears rolled down Kaneki's face while his lifeless expression made the rest of the room silent.

"Hide…"

Three months passed and the fight between the ghouls and humans, or with ghouls themselves such as Aogiri, had come to a halt.

Touka had been accepted in Kammi University at Tokyo, where Kaneki had already become a second year in Japanese literature, and was about to begin her first day as a freshman.

She entered through international studies and was walking alongside Kaneki to the university.

"Kaneki, snap out of it" Touka touched Ken's shoulder.

Kaneki was gazing at the sky, not moving at all.

"OI! KANEKI! MOVE!" She snapped.

He looked to the side to meet her gaze and she was slightly moved by his face.

"You know… he used to study the same thing you are now…"

"Kaneki…"

They kept on walking towards Kammi University until they passed the main gate.

"My classroom must be that one" Touka said with a notable shyness in her voice.

"Yeah…" Kaneki kept walking, leaving Touka behind.

There was a familiar voice running up behind him.

"Excuse me! Do you have a boyfriend!?" Upon hearing this Kaneki dared to look behind him.

Touka's face was in shock, her eyes watered to a cheerfully smiling boy in a yellow and black jacket.

For a moment everything froze, his heartbeat was thumping back and forth without giving him time to reason what was going on in front of him.

"Hi…de?" He murmured.

His smile, his fuzzy attitude, his bright soul, everything was exactly the same he remembered.

Time returned to normal and he screamed his best friends name out in the open as he rushed to him and Touka.

Ken stood directly in front of his friend, almost broken out in tears.

Touka still couldn't believe it either.

"Hide!" He brought a hand to touch Nagachika in the shoulder.

But…

Hide snapped his hand away with a push…

 _And everything fell to silence after that. That is… until Hide broke it._

" _Who the heck are you?"_


End file.
